Team 0
by balthazarskullduggery
Summary: The story of Konoha's mobile team lead by the Toad Sage himself when failure is not an option and time is not a luxury they are called. This is Naruto AU and I'm terrible at summaries so please read and review it's my first fanfic. I don't own Naruto I only own my OC's
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

A weary traveller stood in front of the main entrance to the Hidden Leaf Village which prior to his arrival suffered an attack from the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon.  
><em>'Its been a while since I've passed through these gates' <em>he gave a slight laugh in remembrance _',never drinking like that ever again.'_

As he walked through the village he took note of all places he enjoyed back in his youth despite the amount of damage dealt by the Nine-Tails the village had made a lot of progress.  
>"They work fast." he said out as he continued his journey to his first destination<em> 'The Hot Springs,' <em>a sheepish grin crossed his face as he looked around _'the women are still as beautiful as ever I had best do some **research** before I leave.'_

Sarutobi Hiruzen the Third Hokage and after the death of his successor the Forth Hokage Minato Namikaze; the years of stress and service to the village has taken its toll on the Third both physically and mentally. The only thing that is keeping the Third going is his Will of Fire that the Second Hokage instilled in him.

A knock on the door brought the Third back to his senses_  
>"Enter." <em>he said

_"Hey old timer." _the man said

_"Ah Jiraiya right on time."_

_"What are you talking about? Were you expecting me?"_

_"Yes or rather I was expecting you or Tsunade to come and check on the village."_

_"Why?"_

_"I needed one of you."_

_"Well sensei I'm to help in any way I can;" _the Third got up from his seat and handed Jiraiya a file "_what's this?"_

_"It's a detailed report of the Nine-Tails attack I would ask that you read the marked accounts."_ Jiraiya read most of the pages except one before he stared at his sensei in disbelief

_"Sensei this is impossible...there's no way-" _Jiraiya was cut off by the Third

_"Read the last page." _the Third said in a calm voice and Jiraiya obeyed and read it

_"This is from...you."_

_"Exactly I saw these events unfold before my very eyes the sheer power was incredible."_

_"I don't see how this has anything to do with me."_

_"We have the Nine-Tails power in our possession that would hopefully stir away any attack but we low on ninja...I want you to train these three Jiraiya you one of the people I trust with such a task."_

_"Sensei; I know what it is that you want. You me to take around the country training them and when you have mission that your ninja are unable to do for example being spread too thin."_

_"Exactly. Trust me Jiraiya I would not burden you or these gennin with such a task if I had a choice."_

_"Let me meet them." _with that they left the Hokage's office and went to the training grounds where the three children were.

The three gennin sat near a rock two were the by pond skipping stones while the third one sat with his eyes closed when Jiraiya stepped forward

_"Hey kids;" _he started _"my name Jiraiya I'm going to be your new sensei."_

_"Hi Master Jiraiya I'm Danaerys Dairuko and this is my sister Natsuki." _the boy with light hair said and received a hard knock on the head by his sister

_"I can introduce myself baka;" _she said and turned on her cute voice _"I'm Danaerys Natsuki."_

_"Nice to meet you two;" _Jiraiya laughed and turned to the boy with his eyes closed _"and your name is?"_

_"Uchiha Itachi."_

_"Aaah the prodigy Uchiha."_

_"That's what they say about me."_

_"Alright kids the Hokage himself has put you under my watch and given us permission to leave the village as we please and return at anytime. Which means you three have the privilege of travelling with the Great Toad Sage himself across the Five Great Nations."_

_"Why can't we just stay here?" _Natsuki asked

_"Because Natsuki the four of us are the mobile Leaf team for whenever Konoha needs a mission done where failure is not an option and time isn't a luxury they call us."_

_"That sounds AWESOME!"_ Dairuko said with excitement and a gleam in his eye

_"We move out in a week and from this point forward we are **TEAM 0**."_


	2. 13 years later

_**13 years later**_

"Alright kids. Welcome home." Jiraiya said to the three shinobi as they stood in front of the main entrance to Konoha but unlike the last times they were here which was to spend some time at home; they had a mission to watch over the Chunnin exams since this year's one had the Hidden Sound Village which has unknown capabilities.

"I missed Konoha." Natsuki said. The years had seen the team change both physically and mentally. Physically she had grown into a well developed young woman with shoulder length mahogany coloured hair; grey eyes and fair skin. She also has double pierced earlobes as well as one on the top and middle of her right ear. She wears a standard jounin jacket with a black shirt underneath and a pants with one full length legging and one thigh high legging.

"But we still have a mission to complete sensei; so I doubt we'll have the luxury of 'enjoying' our return." Itachi said in his usual serious tone. Itachi has also changed his once base-neck length hair grew down to his mid back and tied with a red band. He wears normal civilian clothes with the Uchiha symbol on the back of his shirt.

"Way to spoil the moment Itachi. Come on man we're here for a month that's the longest time we've ever been home, can't we just let loose for once." Dairuko complained to his uptight teammate. Dairuko wears a standard jounin uniform with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and fingerless gloves with the exception of his jounin jacket which is customised with weights that double training and protecting him from small blades like kunai and shuriken. He is also the tallest one out the three and most physically complete as well with well defined muscles and he has short spiky light blonde hair with dark brown eyes and tan skin

"What is your definition of "let loose", Dairuko?" Itachi asked "sleeping with women; gambling or drinking?"

"All of the above Uchiha and besides my gambling has kept us afloat when sensei goes with our wallets."

"Whoa don't get me involved with this." Jiraiya said with his hands up

"Just don't over do it Dairuko." Natsuki sighed

"See now you guys are making me sound like I'm some alcoholic, sex-crazed gambler."

"You are an alcoholic, sex-crazed gambler, brother."

"Within reason I am."

"That much is true."

"Here I was thinking you guys had matured." Jiraiya said

"Come on sensei you've known us for 13 years you know this is how we are."

"Fair enough;" Jiraiya started "I'm heading to Hokage Tower to get a full briefing on our current mission and I will you three in the park to discuss it around about ten okay?"

"Hai sensei." they said unison and Jiraiya left

"Seeing as we got the rest of the day to ourselves..." Natsuki trailed off "Itachi; Dairuko and I were heading to the Ramen shop and I was wondering if you'd like to join us?"

"Nani?! I wasn't-" Dairuko was cut off by Natsuki's elbow to in his ribs "Baaaakaaaaaa." he groaned in pain

"Well Itachi you wanna join us?" she asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Sorry Natsuki not today;" Itachi said calmly "I need to be alone today." and he walked away leaving a saddened Natsuki behind

"You realise what day it is right?" Dairuko asked as he walked up behind his sister

"Yeah but he shouldn't be alone especially today;" she said thinking about how recluse Itachi gets on the anniversary of the Uchiha Massacre "he has too much pride to admit he feels alone."

"Well;" Dairuko started as Natsuki turned to face him "he sees himself as our leader and as leader he feels that he needs to constantly be strong."

"But he is one of the strongest people I know." Natsuki's spirits were going down and Dairuko noticed and decided to intervene the best way he knew how

"Nonetheless. Nee-chan why don't you just drop off our bags and I'll meet you at Ichiraku's." he said as he dumped his bag on her and ran away.

"DAIRUKO!" she screamed but he was long gone

After Natsuki dropped off their bags at home she took a moment to walk around the was a bit dusty because her and Dairuko don't stay here often. She let out a heavy sigh at the thought of cleaning up which lifted some dust and made her cough. 'Damn dust. Damn Dairuko. Damn everyone.' she thought as she made her way to the living room table where she placed the very first team picture they took(her personal favourite); with Jiraiya doing his Toad Sage pose,Dairuko giving a huge grin with a thumbs up, Natsuki pulling her eye down and sticking out her tongue and Itachi was just smiling.  
>"Good times when life was simple." she said to herself<p>

Natsuki made her way to Ichiraku's to meet up Dairuko and catch up with an old friend but when she got there all she saw was this orange jumpsuit -wearing, blonde kid and no Dairuko.

"Dairuko." she muttered

"Hello there take a seat." the man behind the counter said with his back turned

"Why so formal ?" she joked

"Natsuki is that you?"

"One and only," she walked around the counter and gave him a hug "so how you been, Ramen-san?"

"Aren't you little old to still be calling me that?"

"Hey if it ain't broke don't fix it." she shrugged,

"Where's Ayame?"

"Oh I sent her out for ingredients so I can make my special bowl of ramen for Naruto here who made it to the Chuunin exam finals."

"That's right after I win this tournament and become a chuunin I'll be one step closer to becoming Hokage!"

"That's a bold thing to say Kitty Cat." Natsuki teased the orange genin because of his whiskers

"I'm all about bo-HEY I'm not a cat." Naruto said which got him a pat on the head when Dairuko and Ayame appeared by the door holding groceries

"And we're here, thanks again Dairuko." Ayame said

"You quite welcome now I'll just be going before-" Dairuko was cut off

"Before what _Brother_?" Natsuki said standing with an annoyed look on her face. Dairuko didn't even look in her direction because he could feel her stare burning a hole in his skull

"Before uhm, uh... you know that thing I have to do must be done right, Ayame? I told you about that thing on our way here remember?" he said hoping Ayame got his back

"Sorry but you never mention anything to me." she said with a giggle as Dairuko pleaded with Natsuki when a certain Uchiha walked in

"Am I late?" Itachi said and took a quick look around the room when he made eye contact with Dairuko he knew what had to be done "If I am I apologise Dairuko was supposed to bring me here on time."

_EARLIER_

Dairuko walked around the village aimlessly as he planned on being late to meet his sister as payback for that elbow to the ribs and forcing him to go in the first place.  
>'Serves her right.' he thought 'Where to now is the question.' He continued thinking when he walked pass the Hokage Mountain, he back stepped and stared at the iconic mountain.<br>"Now I know where I'm going." he said with smirk on his face

After reaching the top of the mountain Dairuko just sat on top of the First Hokage's head and looked over the village.  
>"If were still a kid I'd probably hide in one of their noses..." he sighed when a all too familiar voice came from behind him<p>

"Why are you here Dairuko?" the voice said

"Uchiha Itachi...of course it'll be you here." Dairuko stated as Itachi took a seat on the Second Hokage's head he also looked over the village like Dairuko

"You didn't answer my question."

"True. I'm admiring the view which is quite nice actually." Dairuko then turned toward Itachi "Better question is why are you here Itachi?"

"Same reason as you I guess." he said as they turned toward the horizon again

"Itachi."

"Dairuko?"

"Have you ever wanted to be like them?"

"Who?"

"The Hokages."

"At one point...Why are you asking this?"

"Its just that I always wanted to be a shinobi the greatest shinobi but a Kage was the furthest thing from my mind. Makes me feel like I lack ambition almost...almost."Itachi gave a slight chuckle at Dairuko

"Dairuko you and me have been friends for a long time and to this day you still surprise me with your uncanny ability to go from serious to joking mid -sentence."

"What can I say, it's part of my charm unlike you whose strong silence got them girls weak in the knees."

"I'm as interested in 'them girls' as you are Dairuko."

"Yeah girls see you, they see long relationship potential they see me they see a one night thing; so in essence you keep the long term and I keep the short term."

"So even outside the battlefield we are a formidable team."

"That we are Uchiha...that we are." Dairuko laughed.

"Should go meet Natsuki before she loses her mind." Itachi said

"Talking to me," Dairuko said as he stood up and walked to the edge and was about to leap off when turned to face Itachi "or yourself?" and Dairuko leapt off

Dairuko was back to wandering the streets of Konoha again until he saw a young woman struggling to carry some groceries so he decided to help her (it was pure coincidence that she was hot). As two of the bags were about to drop he managed to catch them she thanked him and apologised then tried to take back the bags but he insisted on carrying them to her destination.

"So what's your name?" she asked

"A young lady might want to introduce herself first before asking someone his name."

"Oh gomen I'm Ayame."

"Nice to meet you Ayame I'm Dairuko." and the two continued their talk until they arrived at the ramen shop

_PRESENT_

"See I told you I had something to do." Dairuko added but still got hit for talking

"I-Itachi you came." Natsuki said in disbelief

"Well you did invite me." he said before Dairuko who recovered from being hit in the face grabbed the two under his arms and said "Now that the 'Great Uchiha Itachi' has joined us can we finally order something I'm starved." this earned him eye twitches from both Itachi and Natsuki but they were too hungry to disagree.

"Four bowls of your special ramen ." the forth bowl was for Naruto who had been quiet and patient for so long but little did they know he was asleep on the counter.

"OI! Blonde Cat wake up." Dairuko said while shaking him awake

"I'm not a cat you stu-" Naruto was cut off by Natsuki shoving ramen in his mouth which halted all objections as he ate bowl after bowl along with Team 0 who celebrated being back home for the first time in a long time with Ayame.

After celebrating until late at night Itachi -who had left earlier- now stood alone in the cemetery to pay his respects at long last. As he walked pass the many tombstones with the Uchiha name on it; although he had Natsuki and Dairuko, there has always been a void. Itachi may not show it but deep down he hates Konoha for what they did to his family and clan however he understands their reason but more than anything he hates himself for not being there to help them.

"I'm sorry." he said out loud and stood in front of the graves of his family Uchiha Fugaku; Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Sasuke in silence until he placed the flowers before moving to each tombstone and placing a single flower on each.

"It's not your fault Itachi." Itachi turned to face whoever was talking

"Natsuki...Dairuko what are you doing here?" he asked

"What's it look like Itachi we here to pay our respects just like you baka." Dairuko added with a smirk.

"Why? You didn't know most of these people."

"True however;" Dairuko started and Natsuki finished "We know you Itachi and you knew these people therefore your loss is our loss." she said before using her chakra strings and taking two thirds of the flowers and splitting it between herself and Dairuko who added "We're a team Itachi hell, we're borderline family and though we can't carry your burdens we sure as hell can carry you." with that Team 0 placed a flower on each tombstone.

Once they finished pay their respects the three walked home with Dairuko lagging behind to give Itachi and his sister some space -he could be nice like that. There was silence between Itachi and Natsuki with the occasional wildlife sounds.

"This is it Itachi...ano...arigatou." Natsuki had a habbit of blushing and getting nervous when alone with Itachi.

"That's why I'm here Natsu-chan." he said staring into her soul or at least that's what she felt; not to mention that voice, its no wonder why the women love him; sure Dairuko had looks the two of them are probably equal in almost every way...almost

"Well thanks Itachi goodnight." she rambled and ran inside...she's not ready

"Goodnight." Itachi said softly as he walked away after bidding farewell to Dairuko

"This is going to be a LONG mission," Dairuko said to himself after watching the whole scene unfold from his position in the back "but let's hope there's enough fun for me while those two play Romeo and Juliet."


	3. Secret Technique

_**Secret Technique**_

The next morning was all sunshine, something Natsuki couldn't stand, the sun's rays creeping through the curtains and shining right in her face. It was and is THE worst alarm clock ever and no amount of cover up can put her back to sleep once her eyes are open. "Why? Why me?" she complained as she kicked off the covers in frustration and went to see if Dairuko was still asleep which he wasn't. "Of course he's gone," she sighed "stupid morning people don't know the trials we go through every morning waking up." she muttered as she went to the kitchen and made breakfast for herself.

After breakfast, Natsuki made her way to the park to meet her team and get briefed on the mission status. Despite the rude awakening by the giant yellow orb in the sky the day was beautiful, along with a park full of children playing ninja. She remembered the days when she and Dairuko played ninja together later joined by Itachi and his little brother Sasuke back when life was easy. As she thought that her fellow teammates appeared.

"Hey you three." she said as Jiraiya took a seat and began to explain the mission.

"So we're the safety net then." Dairuko shrugged.

"Basically yes," Jiraiya said "unfortunately I won't be part of the mission."

"Why not?" Natsuki asked.

"I'm stuck training a genin for the finals as a favour to his parents."

"Who's the kid? Maybe we can help out." Itachi offered.

"Uzumaki Naruto and thanks for the offer but I'll go solo."

"The blonde kid with whiskers?" Natsuki asked.

"Yes...you met him?"

"Once but we only got a name."

"He's also the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki." All three of the students froze as they remembered their first encounter with the Kyuubi.

_FLASHBACK_

_The red tinted sky due to the fires; the cries of those ninja who have died trying to protect their village, cries of their loved ones and three genin too stunned to run but brave enough to fight for those precious to them. The battle was intense; every able-bodied shinobi was fighting all out against the Kyuubi. The latter was about to unleash a powerful chakra bomb that was heading straight for a large number of ninja and the Third could do nothing but watch, when out of nowhere a small girl appeared with tears in her eyes and a furious expression on her face. She suddenly created a shield out of pure chakra that blocked the chakra bomb; however the shockwave knocked many shinobi off balance, including Sarutobi. As they were getting up the Kyuubi went for a more direct approach and was about to slam his paw down on the Third when a boy bearing the Uchiha symbol on his back appeared, finishing a series of hand signs. __"Fire Style:Great Fire Annihilation!" he screamed and unleashed a gigantic flame that pushed back the tailed beast.  
><em>

_Meanwhile as the beast recovered; a third child ran across the Kyuubi until he was face to face with it and unleashed a thunderous punch right between it's eyes. The child was flung overhead upon impact but caught by the Fourth Hokage who appeared out of thin air._

_"Hokage-sama," he said stunned "where'd you-"_

_"Are those two your team-mates?" the Fourth asked looking at the unconscious forms of the two children in question about to be crushed._

_"You have to save them!" he screamed and in an instant the genin was with the other two and the Fourth had disappeared. No sooner had he reached them when the Kyuubi was suddenly on them again, a huge paw swinging down on the spot where he and the others were. He shut his eyes and threw up his good arm (the other one was still numb from punching the Kyuubi) ...barely his strength alone would be able to hold it for long so he used what strength he had left to push the paw high enough that anyone would be able to grab the other two and escape safely instead, the Third showed up and managed to get all three of them out to safety._

_"What you did was incredibly stupid!" the Third scolded the young boy "but it was quite brave of you and your teammates."_

_"They are...not...my teammates." the child said barely able to speak._

_"Who are they to you?"_

_"They are...my friends." he said before passing out from exhaustion._

_End Flashback_

"Don't worry kids, Naruto doesn't seem affected by it so if you're worried about me don't be, I'll be fine." Jiraiya assured them.

"I'm more worried about Naruto having to deal with your perverted, money wasting ways." Dairuko added.

"Hypocrite."

"I don't waste money...I make it."

"Only because I made you realise your natural talent for gambling."

"Yeah what a thing to teach a 10 year old."

"OK." Natsuki intervened "Stay safe, sensei."

"Yeah and try not to get into too much trouble you old pervert." Dairuko added sarcastically, Itachi just nodded.

"Thanks I'll see you three later." with that, Jiraiya left.

"Itachi how about we go a couple rounds...for old times sake." Dairuko nudged Itachi.

"You make it sound as if we haven't sparred in months." Itachi said.

"Are you two coming or not?" Natsuki called out to Dairuko and Itachi.

"God Damn it Natsuki, the trash-talk had just begun!" Dairuko complained.

"We all know how this ends; you challenge Itachi, Itachi pretends he doesn't want to but deep down he does and then you two go off to fight, which either ends in a draw or one of you wins depending on how serious the fight is. So can we now please just go to the training grounds and spar? My skills need to be up to par for our current mission."

"You can be such a spoil sport Natsuki."

"Yeah yeah whatever Dairuko can we go now?" she sighed and they left.

At the training grounds the three ninja stood in complete silence, all you could hear was the gentle breeze until Natsuki threw an explosive kunai in the centre of the stand still which allowed all three to back away and think up strategies.  
><em>'Think, Natsuki! You've fought these two before; Dairuko's strength and physical prowess are unmatched; his intelligence is above average despite how he acts. He is an excellent, in-the-moment strategist so fighting close combat with him is dangerous if not plain down suicidal. Itachi is well rounded; specialities are his Sharingan and his genjutsu. His ninjutsu comprises mostly of fire and water style and taijutsu skills are impressive though not at Dairuko's level but strong enough to send opponents flying.<em>' Natsuki thought as she hid in a tree.

_'Natsuki is the smartest out of the three of us no doubt about it. She knows the most jutsu and contains more chakra as well not to mention her way to manipulate her own chakra into whatever she needs...she's probably set traps for Dairuko and I._' Itachi thought while hiding in a bush.

"Helloooooo!" Dairuko called out. He was the only one who still stood in the open "are you guys done yet? I'm bored!" he finished when a water dragon appeared behind him which he dodged easily although while in mid-air he noticed a fireball heading straight for him; to counter it he clapped his hands together causing a gust of wind to extinguish it.  
>"Earth Style: Mudslide Jutsu!" Natsuki exclaimed as the entire grounds moved forward into Dairuko as he landed, trapping him in solidifying mud while at the same time forcing Itachi out into the open.<br>_'That mud will be able to hold Dairuko until it solidifies. Now I just need to take care of Itachi quick or at least subdue him until I take out Dairuko.'_ she thought when shuriken came straight for her.

"Easier said than done I guess." she said as she dodged the shuriken.

"Sorry Natsuki but I won't go down as easily as Dairuko." Itachi said as he made a fireball and she countered with a water missile. Itachi lunged at Natsuki who used Hidden Mist on top of the vapour left from their jutsu clash allowing her to disappear right before Itachi's eyes leaving him to look around for her.

As Itachi activated his Sharingan he saw a fireball coming right at him and he countered it with his own when Natsuki popped out of the ground in an uppercut but Itachi grabbed her wrist then another Natsuki charged him with her Lightning Cutter causing him to shove the clone away and leap into the air waiting for Natsuki to pass him as he readied his fireball however, she didn't run pass him instead appearing above him -Lightning Cutter active- and with nowhere to go her jutsu found its mark in Itachi's chest. When the two hit the ground Itachi turned into crows.

"Of course you'd use your crows." Natsuki sighed.

"I know you saw that coming Natsuki only Dairuko wouldn't." Itachi said when out of nowhere Dairuko broke out of the ground in a flurry of stones and rocks causing the two to leap away.

"ITACHI!" Dairuko screamed as he grabbed Itachi's leg and flung him into Natsuki and the two of them flew into a tree.

The impact hurt but it wasn't as bad as it could have been since Itachi's fall was cushioned by Natsuki. He found himself on top of Natsuki who -with her head tilted far back looking at Dairuko- said,  
>"Dairuko shouldn't have broken out so soon."<p>

"Is he getting stronger?" Itachi said before Natsuki rolled him over so that she was on top.

"Can't think if I'm at the bottom," she said "besides I like this position...better centre of gravity."

"Where was this confidence last night?" he closed his eyes and smirked.

She blinked, confused.

"I wasn't-" she was cut off by Itachi opening his eyes and putting her under a genjutsu.

"Get a room why don't you!" Dairuko called out while facepalming.

"Now we can begin our battle Dairuko." Itachi said as he got up.

"Finally." Dairuko sighed as he took his fighting stance while Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. "Well you stepped things up a bit Itachi...I may have to use my secret weapon." Itachi remained silent.

Their clash began as Dairuko charged at Itachi who back-stepped and shot a series of fireballs that Dairuko was able to dodge without losing speed; Itachi then sent two clones at Dairuko. Though Dairuko was able to block and dodge the clones' attacks they were doing the same attack forcing Dairuko to block his left and right side making him unable to counter until he got an idea; the two clones both attempted to punch Dairuko, but instead he punched one and when the other landed its punch he grabbed its arm before it could pull away completely and swept it off it's feet, then while still airbourne Dairuko slammed his fist into it's chest causing both clones to disappear. Itachi was still standing there giving that famous Uchiha stare before sending a series of explosive clones toward Dairuko.

"Nice try Uchiha but;" Dairuko said as he uprooted a tree and slung it over his shoulder "I have this." and he swung that tree like it was nothing which, by the end of it there was pretty much nothing left due to the explosives.

"You are quite resourceful as always." Itachi noted.

"Eat this!" Dairuko screamed before throwing what was left of the tree at Itachi who put his hand on the tree and used it as leverage to dodge it. "He flew?!" Dairuko said in shock as Itachi turned into crows and appeared behind Dairuko, holding a kunai to his throat.

"It's over Dairuko." Itachi said then tensed the kunai when suddenly Dairuko turned to a puff of smoke.

"You saw what I did to your clones and you still want to fight me in close combat...either brave or stupid Itachi." Dairuko said and the two shinobi charged into one another neither one giving an inch as they exchanged blows. Unfortunately for Itachi he didn't have the luxury to block Dairuko's attacks he could only dodge and counter where possible due to Dairuko's _monster strength_; eventually Dairuko landed a punch that knocked Itachi away.

"Fire Style: ..." Itachi started the handsigns.

"Secret Technique:" Dairuko reached into his ninja pouch "Barrier!" and pulled out a picture that stopped Itachi dead in his tracks.

"N-nani?" Itachi was stunned, Dairuko smirked and punched Itachi in the face effectively K.O'ing the Uchiha Prodigy (the latter thoroughly distracted).

"Gotcha." Dairuko smirked until two hands emerged from underground and grabbed his legs then Natsuki appeared out of nowhere. "Where did- you were supposed to be in a genjutsu!" Dairuko looked at where Natsuki should be and the body that was there disappeared in a puff. "A shadow clone?"

"Yup. I escaped the genjutsu while you two were fighting and used the distraction to make a shadow clone and hide away until there was an opening." Natsuki explained "Now what's on that picture?"

"Nothing!" Dairuko exclaimed as Natsuki snatched it out of his hands. Once she looked at the picture her face went as red as a tomato.

"DAIRUKO!" she roared as she balled up her fist.

"Secret Technique: Barrier!" he screamed desperately as he grabbed Itachi, ripped off his shirt and threw him on top of Natsuki causing her to blush-out -dropping to the ground like a sack of rocks- due to seeing Itachi's shirtless form. "Whew; that was waaay too close for comfort." Dairuko sighed in relief as he crushed the picture and left, but not before having fun with his unconscious teammates.

Itachi finally came to after that sucker punch he received from Dairuko when he realised he was shirtless, in a bush full of flowers and Natsuki snuggled on his chest.  
><em>'What did you do Dairuko?'<em> he thought as he looked at the unconscious woman on his chest. _'I'm not complaining though.'_ Natsuki snuggled closer to Itachi and he softened his stare, taking note of all her features. He imagined her light grey eyes, as he ran his hand through her silken, soft hair. Her perky lips held a small smile. Her piercings giving her a punkish look, all of these features made her beautiful to him even though her personality was the opposite of his. Thoughts of his family briefly crossed his mind.  
><em>'Feelings like these are natural;' <em>He told himself,_ 'we are human; we all require love but I am a shinobi and as a shinobi you cannot get too attached to another for if I were to die I'd put her through unnecessary pain and grief that she does not deserve...'_ he pulled Natsuki closer _'...but I can indulge myself in this feeling for a little while longer.'_ and he closed his eyes.


End file.
